www.bbc.co.uk The sultan of Oman is pursuing the development of his country by attempting to blend the old with the new.
On the seashore of the most eastern point of the Arabian peninsula, a huddle of British, French and Germans wades through rich white sand in the moonlight.
An Omani guide in a white dish-dasha leads the group between the surf breaking into phosphorescence on the beach and jagged, unearthly cliffs above to a round depression in the sand.
In it, a 70-year-old green turtle strains her flippers to dig a deep enough hole to lay her ping-pong ball sized eggs.
Just visible in the distance, another turtle emerges ghostlike from the sea and struggles up onto the beach.
This is Ras al-Hadd - the main site for green turtles in Oman.
They have been coming here to nest for thousands of years.
One of the Omani guides tells the group of tourists not to speak and not to use flash photography or touch the turtles.
Everyone gathers in a circle around the nesting turtle, the sand she is scooping up flecking their clothes.
It seems a strange ritual to gather in such a remote spot staring down at a creature whose ancestors have populated the oceans for 200 million years.
Despite his own warnings, one of the Omani guides shines a torch on the turtle and pats it on the back.
In the main nesting season in late summer, hundreds of turtles make their way each night onto the beach at Ras al-Hadd, leaving early in the morning after laying their eggs.
There are many more visitors as well - several hundred at a time, creating a risk of disrupting the nesting ritual from which, according to one of the guides, only two out of 1,000 hatchlings finally make it to the sea.
The Omanis are trying not to disturb this ancient ritual, while at the same time exploiting it as one of the main attractions for their growing tourism industry.
Access to the nesting grounds is restricted.
All the same, headlights often shine down on the beach from the 4x4s in the car park, disorienting some of the turtles, who head towards the light rather than the sea.
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